Red tower (hall)
The red tower is part of the landmark of the city of Halle (Saale) . It forms this together with the four towers of the Marktkirche Our Dear Women . Because of the distinctive silhouette of these two buildings, Halle is also often referred to as the city of five towers . The tower burned down on April 16, 1945 by artillery fire and lost its characteristic tower helmet. Except for the tower renovation, it was restored.
Location and description
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The Red Tower was built on the market square of Halle and is almost exactly in the center of the city. It is a free-standing clock and bell tower created in the late Gothic style . The rectangular base of its lower cuboid structure measures approximately 10 by 15 meters. The tower rises a total of just over 84 meters (140 old Halle cubits or 268½ feet of the Rhine ), making it the tallest medieval structure in Halle. The spire of the copper helmet roof is adorned with a gold-plated ball knob with “246 spikes” with a circumference of 3.60 meters and a diameter of 1.15 meters.
History of the Tower and Roland
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Its construction by the Mariengemeinde began in 1418 and was completed on July 24, 1506. The date of completion is documented. The following inscription, which was carved in stone at a height of four meters, testifies to the start of construction: "ANNO DOMINI millesimo CCCCXVIII locatus est lapis iste" . The community had the Red Tower built as the bell tower of St. Mary's Church. It thus represented a campanile . The Red Tower is, at least in relation to the time it was built, to be classified as a sacred building . Even before 1418 there was a previous tower at this point. There was also a tower with the same name in Halle at that time. This says the oldest known mention of a “red tower” in the city from the Hallische Talrecht from 1386. It says: “The sal men sit uffe sente ghertrude kerchove hinder den clearing tormen.” . It is rather unlikely, however, that a tower was meant in the place of the structure described here .
At the start of construction, the campanile was still called the New Tower , the name Red Tower has only been used since the 17th century. The well-known chronicler Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt assumed in 1749/50 that the tower got its name because of the copper roof, which originally shone in red, and that this was retained despite the later green color. The more likely reason for this is the blood court held at its foot at the time . An expression of this was and is the figure of Roland , who stood directly on the tower between 1547 and 1718 as a symbol of blood justice. In some cases, the thesis is also represented that the name has a reference to a participating builder or architect named Johannes Rode, so that the term “Rode-Thurm” came into being in the vernacular. As a member of a patrician family in Halle, Rode could also have appeared as a founder . At least an inscription above the top window of the south wall from 1470 indicates Rode's participation: “ANNO DOMINI M.CCCC.LXX. locatus est iste lapis per Joh. rod. "
The history of Roland is closely linked to that of the Red Tower. The creation of a Roland Roland dates back to the time of the mayor's court , which has been known in the city since 1161. The first Roland figure was made of wood. This Roland stood on a small hill north of the town hall and in 1341 had to be moved near the later Red Tower because of the construction of the archive tower. In 1513 he was locked in a wooden house because of the submission of the city by Archbishop Ernst von Magdeburg. He only "escaped" from this in 1547. Elector Johann Friedrich von Sachsen had him brought back to the tower. In 1718 Roland had to give way again because of the expansion of the main guard and came to the Malz- und Zimmerhaus, where he was burned in a fire on November 15, 1719. A stone Roland, which had been commissioned months earlier, has meanwhile been completed and set up on September 2, 1719 at the house of the jury. In the years 1825/26 the red tower was completed again with a (this time massive) stone building. In earlier times, simple junk stalls stood around the tower. In 1850 the Roland statue had to vacate its place again and was threatened with neglect in a shed in the courtyard. The hall's civic pride brought about its restoration and, on September 1, 1854, the erection of the figure in the southeast corner of the neo-Gothic renovation.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, a brick tower with a concrete slab that was built to protect the Roland statue prevented it from being damaged in the American bombing raids and in the fire of the Red Tower as a result of an artillery hit on the night of April 15-16, 1945 . Perhaps the attacking American troops suspected a German artillery observer in the tower. A tank shell hit the turret. He suffered severe damage in the fire. He lost his 40 meter high tower helmet and burned down to the surrounding walls. The renovation of 1825 was also badly destroyed. It was therefore decided to completely dismantle the renovation. The tower received a tent-shaped emergency roof. For many years after the Second World War, the Red Tower construction works collected donations for the reconstruction of the top of the tower, although a town planning director spoke of a “superfluous Red Tower” that should be demolished. In 1955 the main cornice over the large west window and the tracery were repaired. The final restoration with the reconstruction of the steel tower helmet was not started until May 22, 1975. The putting on of the helmet, consisting of the substructure, lantern, side turret and spike, ended on September 11, 1975. The complete reconstruction of the tower helmet and the erection of the so far most recent reconstruction (a stilt-supported steel structure with glass all around, on the east side of which the Roland has since stood) was possible on To be completed May 25, 1976.
Between 2004 and 2006, the market square in Halle was completely rebuilt. Numerous bone finds that came to light during the accompanying archaeological excavations show that the Halle residents buried their dead west of the Red Tower over a long period of time. At this point was the cemetery of the Marienkirche , which today only the two eastern towers of the market church, the so-called Hausmannstürme , remind. During the excavations, the scientists also came across remains of building materials, which, because of their composition, suggest that there must have been traders' booths on the area surrounding it before construction began on the Red Tower. In the course of the redesign of the marketplace, the tower renovation from 1976 was removed again. As part of the city's 1200th anniversary, the Roland figure was rebuilt directly on the tower and was ceremoniously unveiled on April 28, 2006.
On July 24, 2006, the 500th anniversary of its completion, was celebrated at the foot of the tower. The Deutsche Post published a special cancellation, and the Monetarium e. V. offered the commemorative medal for the event. In the evening the carillon rang out . From August 2007 to October 2008 the tower underwent extensive renovation. In April 2008, a room with a double groin vault that had been clad for decades was uncovered.
On September 11, 2015, an event took place at the foot of the Red Tower on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the reconstruction of the spire. The organist Martin Stephan gave a carillon concert and the documentary film "The Red Has Its Tip Again" from 1976 was shown.
Clock and bells
The first bells were hung on the first window floor during the construction phase. Two years later, the “big bell” introduced in 1460 had an even larger bell at its side. However, since it shattered the following year, it had to be re-cast for the first time. In 1468, when it was pulled back up the tower, it also received the large pointer or clock bell with an inscription. There was also the small pointer bell or quarter-hour bell. The tower clock was given a new, initially only two-sided pointer frame in 1580, which was completed the following year with four dials. The clock hands were re-gilded in 1711 and the dials freshly painted in 1823.
Carillon
For the opening of the 42nd Handel Festival in Halle on June 5, 1999, the installation of a new carillon (carillon), consisting of 76 church bells with a total weight of 54,980 kg, was completed in the Red Tower . The largest bell is named "Dame Handel". It has a diameter of 2.36 m and weighs 8056 kg. The smallest bell weighs only 10.7 kg and has a diameter of 16.3 cm. The carillon was planned and designed by Apolda's last master bell founder Franz Peter Schilling and his wife Margarete Schilling , it was cast in Apolda and completed in Karlsruhe by the Carl Metz bell foundry.
In relation to the number of bells, the tower has the largest carillon in Europe and the second largest carillon in the world in its structure. It is only surpassed by the carillon of the Tower of the Apostles Kirk in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan , USA , which has 77 bells, and the equally large carillon in Hyechon College in South Korea . Since the Red Tower in Halle also has five bells for striking the clock, the total number of bells is 81. The melody of the clock striking corresponds to the striking of Westminster . The basic motif of this melody was supposedly taken from the aria I Know That My Redeemer Liveth from the Messiah of the composer Georg Friedrich Händel , who was born in Halle (Saale) .
The Halle Carillonneure
Halle never had its own carillonneur, which means that the largest instrument in Europe was played almost exclusively thanks to the built-in automatic system and less often by guest carillonneurs. In June 2017, a training program started in Halle for the first time. For this purpose, a training instrument was commissioned in Mechelen , which is now in Halle and is used for training. Six carillonneurs are trained in Halle as students of the Kassel carillonneur Wilhelm Ritter.
Tower Deeds
- July 24th, 1506, inauguration and completion certificate (Latin) - excerpt: "...: cunctorumque celestium civium nec non pro decore famosissime civitatis Hallensis: tociusque communitatis: immo & Regionis." : their entire community and even the entire region.)
- April 28, 1659, documents about the restoration of the tower helmet and the new gilding of the tower knob (Latin)
- 1825, document about the construction of the renovation and the opening of the tower button on September 15, 1825 (Latin)
Anecdotes
- According to a legend, the construction of the Red Tower is said to have cost 4,000 guilders. Perhaps this much too low value was due to the reference in Thomas Cresse's chronicle that "the council gave 400 florins to help , since the high point was placed on the tower in 1506 and the construction was completed " . Since 400 guilders was assumed to be too little, a zero was probably added and this number was given as the construction sum. The 400 guilders, however, only represented a contribution to the top of the tower, which incidentally was financed by the Mariengemeinde.
- Siegmar von Schultze-Galléra also knew about another legend about the flame on the Red Tower : After that, at midnight on Epiphany, a brightly shining tongue of fire appeared on the top of the tower and whoever had the courage to speak to it, climbed to it bring them down, accompany him home and he will succeed in everything he does until the next Epiphany.
- Erich Neuss describes the visit of a school class in the city of Saale. When a senior prime minister asked why the Red Tower had four dials when one would be enough, even the teacher did not have an answer, a bib standing nearby came to him (Hallish for "kid" or "adolescent" ) with the following objection: "So that if four leaders want to look at the clock one time, they don't have to wait a minute!" .
Lyrical
- Friedrich Ezekiel , 1824
- The red tower.
- Old towers, high towers!
- Welcome to me from afar!
- How happily the houses spread
- Under your protection and shields!
- The one stands high
- Serious and strong, powerful from blocks
- Built up and looking thoughtfully
- To the city, love, his.
- I want to greet you, O tower
- Serious and strong, powerful from blocks
- Assembled, you look carefully
- To the city at your feet
- Three centuries passed
- Since you looked down
- Ever since the rain fell,
- You touched storm measuring wings.
- Rother Thurm, the mark of blood,
- That shed righteousness
- That flowed to the picture of Roland,
- Under hatchet and heavy blows.
- Red is also the color of joy;
- Always proclaim joy and peace,
- Your spring will never flow
- Be always rich in the field.
The red tower in painting
The tower is known as the main motif of an Expressionist painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner from 1915. It is on display in the Folkwang Museum in Essen . Caspar David Friedrich created his painting Night in the Harbor (Sisters) around 1818 , which is in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg . The red tower on the left-hand side of the picture is unmistakably the inspiration for the romantic fantasy motif. The Red Tower was also artistically immortalized in 1930 by Lyonel Feininger , one of the most important exponents of Cubism , in the cycle of his Halle paintings . Feininger created 2 oil paintings of the Red Tower as well as several drawings and photographs. One of the paintings (Red Tower II) is in the Mülheim an der Ruhr Art Museum . The painting Red Tower I was considered lost for a long time. In 2006 its auction was prevented and a procedure for inclusion in the register of nationally valuable cultural assets was initiated in order to prevent sales abroad. With the help of the cultural foundation of the federal states and sponsors, the state of Saxony-Anhalt managed to repatriate the work. It has been in the possession of the Moritzburg Foundation in Halle (Saale), the art museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, since July 7, 2009 , and is exhibited there as part of the permanent exhibition on the so-called Feininger gallery.
literature
- Albert Herling: Red Tower and Roland. Forays into Halle's past. Publishing house Gustav Moritz, Halle a. Saale, 1912
- Erich Neuss : The building history of the Red Tower in Halle ad Saale (series of publications by the Red Tower Bauhütte, contributions to the city and cultural history of Halle, issue 1), Gebauer- Schwetschke Verlag Nachf.Jaeger and Co. KG, Halle (Saale) 1946
- Erich Neuss: Red Tower Primer, memorials and peculiarities of the Red Tower in Halle ad Saale (series of publications by the Red Tower Bauhütte, contributions to the city and cultural history of Halle, issue 2), Gebauer-Schwetschke Verlag Nachf. Jaeger und Co. KG , Halle (Saale) 1947
- Klaus Betzner, Gotthard Voß: The reconstruction of the spire on the Red Tower in Halle (in: Preservation of monuments in the German Democratic Republic, issue 1/1976, pp. 9–22)
- Renate Kroll: Halle (Saale) . In: Fate of German Monuments in the Second World War. Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2.
- Karl-Heinz Dieckmann: The Red Tower in Halle on the Saale (in: Galeriespiegel - Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle , Issue 3/1981)
- Hans-Joachim Krause, Gotthard Voss: The Red Tower in Halle (in: Monuments in Saxony-Anhalt - Your Preservation and Care in the Districts of Halle and Magdeburg, Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Successor, 2nd Edition, Weimar 1986, pp. 280–292 )
- Margarete Schilling : Glockenspiel Roter Turm Halle / Saale. Halle undated (1993), without ISBN
- Angela Dolgner , Dieter Dolgner, Erika Kunath: The historical marketplace of the city of Halle / Saale (Friends of the architectural and art monuments Saxony-Anhalt eV), Verlag John, Halle (Saale) 2001, ISBN 3-931919-08-0
- Sabine Meinel: 500 Years of the Red Tower (in: Yearbook for Hall's City History 2006, pp. 247-251, Verlag Janos Stekovics , Dößel 2006, ISBN 978-3-89923-133-5 )
- Klaus Krüger: A small Hallisches Heiltum - The relics of the Red Tower in Halle (in: Yearbook for Hall's City History 2006, pp. 253–260, Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 978-3-89923-133-5 )
- Initiative for Halle and the Saale district (publisher): The Red Tower in Halle ad Saale - building history and design , dmv druck-medienverlag GmbH, Queis 2007
- Tobias Barth (editor): Der Rote Turm Halle - A Hidden Treasure (audio book of the community foundation Halle), Druckerei Teichmann, Halle (Saale) 2008
Individual evidence
- ^ Renate Kroll: Halle (Saale). Red tower . In: Fate of German Monuments in the Second World War. Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2, p. 327
- ^ Andreas Rühl: Fateful Years - The Destruction of the Old Town Hall 1945 to 1950 . In: The old town hall in Halle (Saale). Ed. Kuratorium Altes Rathaus Halle (Saale) e. V., Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2008
- ↑ Wolfgang Heinrich and Werner Piechocki: " Lost a piece of identity with the town hall ". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, March 11, 1994
- ↑ http://hallespektrum.de/nachrichten/vermischtes/glockenkonzert-am-roten-turm-vor-40-jahren-kam-die-haube-wieder/173363//
- ↑ Link to the German National Library
Web links
- Underside of the City Museum Halle zum Roten Turm
- Virtual tour and 360 ° panoramas from the Red Tower
- Webcam Halle (Saale) market square with the Red Tower
- Three-dimensional view of the Red Tower
- Video with the chime and picture impressions
- The Francke bell in the Red Tower in Halle
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 58.2 " N , 11 ° 58 ′ 9.3" E